A Big Responsibility
When property managers do elect to keep credit reports and other sensitive documents on the property–either in file cabinets or on a computer database–they trigger a compliance burden, notes Jeanne Delgado, vice president of property management for the Washington, D.C.-based National Multi Housing Council.
First, she explains, a property that declines a potential resident’s application based on credit history must notify the applicant. Second, the staff must destroy the information once it’s no longer needed.
But protecting confidential information about residents is only half of the concern for property managers when it comes to identity theft, says Delgado. The property, she notes, must give police access to its records during an investigation if it is discovered that a resident is either a victim of identity theft or has been accused of stealing someone’s identity. And a company may not try to collect a debt from someone who claims to be a victim of identity theft until an investigation determines if the claim is true.
Plus, she says, apartment companies should create policies for dealing with employees who misuse tenant information–and let employees know the penalties for committing a criminal act like identity theft.
Who Are You Really?
To avoid being victimized, says Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com and author of The Safety Minute: How to Take Control of Personal Security and Prevent Fraud, managers should take extra steps to verify the identity of potential residents. The best way, he says, is to order a credit report and use the information it reveals to quiz the would-be tenant.
His method: Choose five details from the credit report, such as past addresses, phone numbers, and employers. For each detail, devise a quick oral test of multiple-choice questions. For example, the manager might add two invented phone numbers to an actual past number and ask the client to identify which one is correct.
“Anybody can buy anybody’s Social Security number at any given time,” says the Boston-based Siciliano. “At any given time, anybody can become anyone. It’s as simple as that. The best way to thwart identity theft is to quiz them on the information they’ve given you.”
While Social Security cards, driver’s licenses, and birth certificates are easy for scofflaws to forge or steal, Siciliano adds, it is difficult for most businesses to distinguish a fake from the genuine article. He advises property managers to invest in directories that show copies of actual driver’s licenses from every state so leasing staff can determine whether the photo IDs they’re seeing are legitimate.
Fortunately, it can be surprisingly easy to trip up would-be identity thieves, says Delgado. She suggests that landlords look up the phone numbers of potential tenants–instead of relying on the ones supplied by the applicant–and call them. “If you actually call the number and the real James Smith answers the phone and he’s not the person sitting in front of you, that’s something you can do to protect yourself.”
Attorney Stacy Rubin of San Diego-based Kimball, Tirey & St. John advises landlords to scrutinize signatures and to check applications for discrepancies and blank spaces. She also advocates calling former landlords and employers for references and says property managers should be wary of references identified by the applicant by first name only.
Novak says identity theft is not rampant in the rental industry, yet apartment firms still need to be cautious. “Given our age of technology, it’s out there,” she says. “We need to look at the exposure that we do, in fact, have.”
–Sharon O’Malley is a freelance writer in College Park, Md.
